Mind Sports South Africa's (MSSA) blog on competitive gaming in South Africa from proto-computer gaming all the way through to the most modern. For more about MSSA go to: https://www.facebook.com/mindsportssa/
Should you wish to submit an article, please send it to mindsportssa@gmail.com. Please note that the editors reserve the right to decide on which articles to publish.

Thursday, 26 June 2014

Since 1981, Murray & Roberts has been making a difference by rewarding and recognising projects that contribute to the development of sport in South Africa.

Sport has the ability to transform the lives of many young South Africans. Previous beneficiaries of the awards include Sizwe Ndlovu, a member of the South African lightweight fours Olympic rowing team, who was one of the first successes to emerge from Rowing South Africa’s schools transformation programme. Rowing South Africa won the 2002 Jack Cheetham Award.

The Jack Cheetham Award targets sports development projects for able-bodied individuals or teams that have the potential to be champions.

The Jack Cheetham Award was initiated by Murray & Roberts 33 years ago, in conjunction with the Johannesburg Sportsman’s Club and in recognition of the special qualities of Jack Cheetham, a former director of the company and the inspirational captain of the South African cricket team in the 1950s who was able to instill in young people the belief that they could win.

Bethelsdorp Wrestling Academy, a programme to uplift children from disadvantaged communities in Port Elizabeth and winners of the 2013 Jack Cheetham Award, took home seven gold medals, six silver medals and one bronze medal at the South African Regional Championships in September 2013.

The Letsema Award, instituted in 2009 following the outstanding performance of Hilton Langenhoven at the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing, recognises sports development projects for people with disabilities.

Mandeville Aquatics Disability Centre of Excellence, winners of the 2013 Letsema Award focuses on the development of swimming in Central Gauteng’s disabled and previously disadvantaged communities and develops them to a level where they can compete successfully at a National and Paralympics level.

Murray & Roberts undertakes the awards in partnership with the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC).

Ø To be eligible for nomination, a sports project must demonstrate a meaningful contribution to the development of sport in South Africa and it must benefit previously disadvantaged individuals.

Ø Nominations in all sporting codes are considered but preference is given to sporting codes that do not attract high levels of funding.

Ø Projects that have previously been receipients of either award may only be nominated again in the year after they receive their final payments.

Saturday, 14 June 2014

Over the past few weeks there has
laughably been a fairly vitriolic criticism of the

MSSA and the
awarding of both female and male gamers medals and of choosing males
and females for its national teams.

Of course most of the MSSA's critics
quickly ignore the fact that the choice of game titles for the 6th
World Championships Baku, as well as who may, and for that matter,
who may not, play is decided upon not by the MSSA, but by the IeSF.

Apart from a small minority of female
gamers who have expressed their apparent unhappiness over the
division of the team along gender lines, the majority of criticism
has come from very vocal male gamers. A number of these gamers have
stated that they speak for the female gamers (I wonder if they really
do), and have made their point that female and male leagues are not
to be tolerated!

My friends and I have read much of what has
been written on the subject.

It is interesting to see that most of
the top female games in international competition, acknowledge the
female only leagues as a reason for their success.

But why are male gamers so anti having
female gamers play their own leagues?

A number of theories could be put
forward, but it is thought that the main reasons could really be:

That male gamers are afraid that a
more nurturing environment for female gamers will fast-track female
gamers so that they can rival male gamers, and

That male gamers are afraid that
if female gamers do have their own leagues and competitions, that
the prize money pool will be halved to accommodate female gamers.

Both the above are based on fear, and
with fear being one of the most basic of human emotions, it is no
wonder why most of the gamers are so subjective on this matter.

It
again comes down to seeing the big picture. What do you really want
to get out of eSports?

If you feel that eSports is something
that you must control, that eSports owes you a living, or that you
are entitled to prize money, then you will experience anxiety when
new ideas are expressed or when new projects are put into place. It is this feeling of lack of control that makes the subject so emotive among those who are outside of the decision making arena.

However, if you are one of themany that
are looking at the big picture of where eSports can go, what eSports
can do for those who play, or of the opportunities that eSports can
create, then you will realise that the policy of having separate
championships for males and females has much to offer.

Let us look at it from a South African
point of view. Mixed gaming delivers one winner, one second place,
and one third place. On the other hand, separating the competition
delivers two winners, two second places, and two third places. This
means that you are rewarding twice as many people and you are
creating an environment that is far more conducive to growth and development.

Not only that, but if the MSSA awards
Protea Colours to one team, then only that team will be able to apply
for a sports bursary should the team members go to university.
However, should a female team and a male team be awarded Protea
Colours, then twice the number of gamers are able to apply for sports
bursaries.

Who in their right mind would not want
to see as many people as possible benefit from eSports?

Surely
only gamers who want to privatise gaming for their own nefarious
purposes would be opposed to seeing as many people as possible
benefit?

Yes, eSports is still in its early
stages of development. Total equality cannot be achieved immediately as
financial considerations will always have a bearing on all decisions
made, but the process has started.

The process will gain
momentum from year-to-year.

One only has to look at how few females
participated in the 2012 IeSF World Championships, as compared to the
increase in numbers (and standard) at the 2013 IeSF World
Championships.

Of course, gaming may even end up like
a sport like tennis where there are female, male, and mixed events!
Only time will tell.

At the end of the day, every person has
the right of freedom of association.

Therefore those who want to be
associated to a progressive process can be. Those who do not want to
associate to a progressive process can leave it alone.

However, all
people deserve to be respected for their own choices, so those who do
not agree should show a modicum of courtesy and refrain from
harassing those that are making eSports a better place for all.

(Picture taken from the MSSA's facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mindsportssa)

Monday, 9 June 2014

According to the MSSA, the IeSF has now finalized the Official game titles, Participation conditions, Prize pool and Uniform Regulations for the 6th e-Sports World Championship BAKU 2014, which are follows,

2. Prize Pool- The Board of IeSF decided the total Prize Pool for 6th e-Sports World Championship BAKU 2014 as $ 100,000 USD, which is the biggest size of IeSF’s history ever.- The Prize Pool is divided into two categories: Winning Nations by Overall Performance and Winners by each game title- All Categories of Prize will be distributed to the related Member National Federation, and the such National Federation can distribute the Prize to the related players in accordance with the contract between NF and the Player.- For more details of Prize Distribution, please see below table:

1) Category for Winners by Each Game Title

Game

1st

2nd

3rd

Total

Male

DOTA 2

$25,000

$15,000

$10,000

$50,000

SC2

$5,000

$3,000

$2,000

$10,000

SF4

$5,000

$3,000

$2,000

$10,000

HS

$5,000

$3,000

$2,000

$10,000

Female

SC2

$2,500

$1,500

$1,000

$5,000

TTT2

$2,500

$1,500

$1,000

$5,000

Overall Performance

$5,000

$3,000

$2,000

$10,000

Total

$100,000 USD

This means that the MWEB Protea Team will have not only national honour for which to play, bt cold hard cash as well!

It will indeed be interesting to see if the Protea Team is up to the task.

Sunday, 1 June 2014

There is no doubt that for a game to
grow, there must be a general groundswell of interest in the game if
it is to develop as a sport.

But, is that enough?

I mean, just because there are people
who are interested in playing the game, does that mean that the game
will develop as a sport?

No, not at all!

The initial
interest in the game being played, may be just a fad, or remain as
just a game being played on a recreational level without ever moving
upwards to become a truly competitive sport.

Of course there are many who are
content with games just being around as a recreation, but there are
those who want to see games played on a more competitive level, and
who want to push themselves to the nth degree to demonstrate their
mastery over the game.

So what is the catalyst to make games
into a sport?

The way that I see it, gaming is no
different from the traditional sports.

For many years the traditional sports
were played on a truly amateur basis, but the sports grew from
strength to strength even without huge injections of money.

So what then created the impetus for
growth?

The way I see it is that it was the
coaches who provided the impetus. Sport is in many ways no different
from the automobile industry..

In the automobile industry, the
manufacturer makes the product, and then advertises the product in
the attempt to enable sales.

The dealer then sells the car, and
sometimes very aggressively, as it is in the dealers interest to make
sure that the brand is protected and that events take place to
further recruit customers.

So is it with sport!

The
National Federation creates the environment that is conducive to
growth. Through its dealings with government, accreditation of
events, and selection of teams (to mention but a few), the National
Federations take on the role as the manufacturer.

However, it is the coaches that take on
the role of the 'dealer'.

The coach has a single-minded approach
to the survival of the game as a sport. It is through the promotion
of the game that the coach earns his/her living. It is in the pursuit
of earning a living that the coach will attract more players to the
game. It is through the coach's abilities that players will improve
and thus make a name for the coach.

Thus is eSports is to truly become a
sustainable sport in South Africa, their has to be the development of
professional coaching!

Gone are the days of coaching being
done on a ad hocnature with
advice being freely given.

Coaching
must be professional, and gamers must be prepared to pay for it!

When
South Africa has professional coaches in South Africa, I guarantee
that there will be a remarkable improvement in the average standard
of play.

Then
you will see foreign players queuing up to play in the MSSA's MWEB
Provincial and National Championships.